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Reverse Engineering

Started by Spider-Man Jan 20, 2004 at 8:14 AM 12 replies 750+ views

Original Post

Jan 20, 2004 at 8:14 AM

I was just wondering if there was anything that couldn''t be reverse engineered. As far as hardware goes, I think if you can disassmble it, it can be reverse engineered, depending on the country. But with software, like Windows, someone can''t reverse engineer because they don''t have access to the source code right? I was just wondering because like I mentioned in my movie theatre thread, I''m researching technologies to build my own projector to project a 40ft x 90ft image. Ofcourse, if I''m able to do this, I wouldn''t want to get my product reverse engineered like 2 days after the public gets wind of it. That would suck, even though I''m not really interested in sharing it with the public.

Also, I wouldn''t mind reverse engineering the IMAX projector, but hardware reverse engineering is supposed to be pretty tough, and I''m just now starting the learning process.

klems

160

klems

Jan 20, 2004 at 8:45 AM

quote:
But with software, like Windows, someone can''t reverse engineer because they don''t have access to the source code right?

You could always disassemble it, but I''d rather make a new OS from scratch than try to comprehend what goes on in 20 million lines of ASM.

[My Image Gallery (WIP)][Greatest Tetris clone evar!][Return your stolen MP3s]

Monder

137

Monder

Jan 20, 2004 at 10:30 AM

What''s so special about IMAX projectors? If you got hold of a roll of IMAX film couldn''t you just measure it''s dimensions and then from that work out the lenses you need and then contruct the projector?

Spider-Man

Author

Spider-Man

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:18 AM

quote:
Original post by Monder
What''s so special about IMAX projectors? If you got hold of a roll of IMAX film couldn''t you just measure it''s dimensions and then from that work out the lenses you need and then contruct the projector?

Hmm...all I need to do then is steal some film from the near by IMAX theatre. Damn, I wish I really were Spider-Man.

jdhardy

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:43 AM

quote:
Original post by Monder
What''s so special about IMAX projectors? If you got hold of a roll of IMAX film couldn''t you just measure it''s dimensions and then from that work out the lenses you need and then contruct the projector?

Not bloody likely. There''s a short description of the IMAX technology here. The highlights: horizontal film loading, custom lens glass, 334 ft/s film feed rate, and water cooled 15,000 W xenon arc lamps. I doubt that could be constructed without a lot of time and money.

The guys who invented the IMAX technology (three guys with a dream, basically) did it, so it''s not impossible. They also created a new type of camera and their own surround sound system. It would be an interesting project, that''s for sure.

Sneftel

297

Sneftel

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:48 AM

You''re aiming thousands of watts of heat at plastic, and expecting it not to melt or deform in any way. That plastic is rolling through at hundreds of feet per second, yet it needs to suddenly STOP and stay in place dozens of times per second then just as suddenly start up again and keep moving at hundreds of feet per second, without getting torn or moving out of focus.

The IMAX projector required innovation to build, not specs. This is something computer scientists often don''t understand, since specs in computer science are so detailed and the number of tricks you can have up your sleeve is comparatively tiny.

"Sneftel is correct, if rather vulgar." --Flarelocke

Spider-Man

Author

Spider-Man

Jan 20, 2004 at 8:21 PM

quote:
Original post by Sneftel
You''re aiming thousands of watts of heat at plastic , and expecting it not to melt or deform in any way. That plastic is rolling through at hundreds of feet per second, yet it needs to suddenly STOP and stay in place dozens of times per second then just as suddenly start up again and keep moving at hundreds of feet per second, without getting torn or moving out of focus.

The IMAX projector required innovation to build, not specs. This is something computer scientists often don''t understand, since specs in computer science are so detailed and the number of tricks you can have up your sleeve is comparatively tiny.

"Sneftel is correct, if rather vulgar." --Flarelocke

Damn, when you break it down like that, you make it sound so much cooler.

I think I''ll start by building a small one just to get a feel of how projectors work. Then, hopefully I can move on to reinventing the IMAX projector, or something similar. Oh, and I''m not a computer scientist, I''m an amateur filmmaker who makes bad movies.

trzy

133

trzy

Jan 20, 2004 at 9:47 PM

quote:
Original post by Spider-Man
I was just wondering if there was anything that couldn''t be reverse engineered. As far as hardware goes, I think if you can disassmble it, it can be reverse engineered, depending on the country. But with software, like Windows, someone can''t reverse engineer because they don''t have access to the source code right?

Reverse engineering software isn''t very difficult. If anything, hardware has the potential to be far more difficult. If you want to see a great example of reverse engineering at work, check out MAME (www.mame.net.)

----
Bart

msn12b

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:17 PM

If you really want to prevent reverse engineering, epoxy the critical components and put in a vial of acid that will disolve said components if the case is opened.

MSN

angryzenmaster @ livejournal

aftermath

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:20 PM

quote:
Original post by msn12b
If you really want to prevent reverse engineering, epoxy the critical components and put in a vial of acid that will disolve said components if the case is opened.

MSN

angryzenmaster @ livejournal

Can we NOT do that instead?

Nice Coder

101

Nice Coder

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:31 PM

my favourite thing to do in hardware-put in a self-destruct, say your making a small processor (8-bit, i build them in 2-3 days).
you add circuits that do nothing until one component is removed-it is powered by capaciters (vacum tube type-they keep there charge for years without leaking) to self-destruct make it discharge a 300,000V cap into your 5v circutry! imposible to reverse engineer (if you grind of all identifying tags, and compress them into a block of thermal epoxy)

Humans are Human oriented, it is because of there nature: a design flaw-greed, jelosy the solution: AI- never greedy, and they stick to there ethics no matter what.

maxd gaming

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:35 PM

quote:
Original post by aftermath
quote:
Original post by msn12b
If you really want to prevent reverse engineering, epoxy the critical components and put in a vial of acid that will disolve said components if the case is opened.

MSN

angryzenmaster @ livejournal

Can we NOT do that instead?

Please... no wasting my bandwidth... I will eliminate hotlinking

aftermath

Jan 20, 2004 at 11:54 PM

quote:
Original post by maxd gaming
quote:
Original post by aftermath
quote:
Original post by msn12b
If you really want to prevent reverse engineering, epoxy the critical components and put in a vial of acid that will disolve said components if the case is opened.

MSN

angryzenmaster @ livejournal

Can we NOT do that instead?

Please... no wasting my bandwidth... I will eliminate hotlinking

We care so mutch it hurts.

msn12b

Jan 21, 2004 at 1:32 AM

quote:
Original post by aftermath
Can we NOT do that instead?

If you''re really concerned with reverse engineering, you shouldn''t over-engineer the safeguards

MSN

angryzenmaster @ livejournal

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